Nitish Kumar takes oath as chief minister of Bihar for 6th time in 12 years: A look at JD(U) chief's journey as CM

Nitish Kumar has been sworn in as Bihar chief minister for the sixth time in 12 years. The Janata Dal (United) chief, in a surprising move, deserted the Grand Alliance and is all set to form the government in Bihar with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Here is a look at Nitish's political career:

File image of Nitish Kumar. PTI

On 3 March, 2000 the then Samata Party leader Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Bihar chief minister. The then Bihar governor, VC Pande's move to invite Nitish to form the government had come under criticism from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and the CPM.

File image of Nitish Kumar. PTI

On 24 November, 2005, Nitish staged a comeback as state chief minister with the support of BJP. He was elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Patna. He became the 33rd chief minister of Bihar with BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi as the deputy chief minister of the JD(U)-BJP coalition government.

File image of Nitish Kumar. PTI

Presiding over the top most post in the state, Nitish Kumar on 26 November 2010 became Bihar chief minister for the second consecutive time. Nitish-led National Democratic Alliance, had won the polls in the state, bagging 206 of the 243 seats. The BJP had said that it made Nitish the chief minister then in recognition of "his popularity and credibility on which it rode" on to bag 91 seats.

JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar. Image courtesy: CM Bihar

On 22 February 2015, Nitish took oath as the Bihar chief minister for the fourth time. Nitish had succeeded Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had resigned from his office on 20 February, 2015.

Nitish Kumar. Image courtesy: CM Bihar

On 20 November, 2015, Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar’s 35th chief minister. The Grand Alliance had won 178 of the 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly. The Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance emerged as the clear winner, with the largest vote share of nearly 46 percent as against NDA's nearly 34 percent. JD-U had forged the Grand Alliance with the RJD and the Congress, both of which have made remarkable turnarounds.

JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar. Image courtesy: CM Bihar

In a jolt to Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Grand Alliance, Nitish Kumar on Wednesday tendered his resignation merely an hour after Lalu reasserted that their was no bitterness in the alliance.